WHAT IS FREEDOM?

Well, the healthcare bill has been passed, and here come the progressives, marching down the street in DC arm in arm, simulating the great people who locked arms in the civil rights marches of the past. There's only one difference. Those marchers of the past were fighting for the freedom of Blacks to pursue happiness and prosperity. To break the chains of discrimination that held Blacks down and prevented them from the opportunities that Whites were privy to. This was a heroic group of people that fought for true freedom and against government sponsored oppression. The frauds, marching in DC, celebrating another expansion of government power, were marching to celebrate government control. Lets see, the government has taken control of General Motors and Chrysler corp., the mortgage industries, the banking industries, the health care industry, you know what, I can't go on with all the areas of our society the government has taken over. Did you know that in the health care bill the government took over education loans. Now, people can't get a private loan to go to college. The federal government can now decide what colleges people can go to and which they can't go to by approving or disapproving college loans. They can also decide who gets to go to college and doesn't. If they pass crap and trade (oops, sorry. I meant cap and trade), the government will have control over everything inside our body, and everything outside our body. If you don't believe this, you don't know enough about what the legislation say's. I would advise you to read the actual legislation. This is all done by people who call themselves "Liberal" or "Progressive". Let's now take a look at those two words. First, let's look at the word liberal. The word liberal is based on the definition of one who believes in liberty. The definition of liberty is: Autonomy, immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority, political independence, freedom of choice, to think or feel or do just as one pleases, personal freedom from servitude or confinement or oppression. INDEPENDENCE!

This definition is nothing like the ideology of liberals. Liberals of today and recent history are in favor of big government that controls everything. They are for government forcefully taking the property that one person worked for, to give it to another. They are politically correct, deciding for everyone what is ok to say and what is not ok. If you break those rules you are called a racist, homophobe, or some other derogatory label. Like a scarlet letter you are branded. If you point out that entitlement programs, like welfare, have kept people, and even families, poor for generations instead of lifting them out of poverty, you are called heartless, mean, and told you don't care about the poor, even if every week you give money to ministries and charities to help the poor . The liberals look to force, not equality of opportunity, but equality of outcome. When you do this, all you do is stifle the people who would excel, and punish the people who produce. This kind of ideology is not liberal, it is controlling by authority.

Now let's look at the word progressive. It's root is in the word progress. The definition of this word is: To advance, development, improvement.

The United States of America was born out of an over controlling, over regulating, and over taxing government authority. In fact, all nations before that time, and after that time, have been, to different degrees, exactly that, over controlling, over regulating, and over taxing. The United States was the first nation to create a Constitutional Republic (we are not a democracy) that gave limited power to the central government. This system resulted in a country that has created more wealth, and become more powerful, and by the way, more generous, than any nation that has ever existed. Our standard of living is better than any other nation on earth. If you don't think so I'd like you to do two things. First, get into your car, which probably cost between 20 and 100 thousand dollars, and drive around and see how many other people are driving around in the same kind of cars. Do you see that in other countries? Why are we the number one consumers in the world? Because we have the money. It's a result of prosperity. Why do people from all over the world risk their lives to come here? I don't see millions of people fighting to get to other countries, and I don't see a whole lot of people who want to leave here. If you don't like it here, let me know and I will start a collection to pay for your way out. Most people below what we call the poverty line have two T.V's, own at least one car, and have food on their table every day. Compare that to poverty in other countries.

Because of this prosperity, we are also the most generous nation in the world. Give me another country that gives as much in private charity as we do! Going in the direction of the "liberals" or "progressives" has been done before. In fact, it's been done throughout history. That ideology is what communism, marxism, fascism, and monarchy's were born out of. That's not progress, it's regress. With liberty and freedom come the freedom to excel and become prosperous. Along with that comes the possibility of failing, and along with failure comes the chance to learn from it and not make the same mistake again. If you keep trying, you will eventually succeed. We can't stop failure through government legislation. The United States was, and is progress. But if we keep going in the direction we are headed, we will be no different than any other nation. America is not a magic place. It's not a place where, no matter what you do everything will be alright. America is just a name of a place where we happen to live. It is the Constitution and our way of life that make us what we are. If we do what every other nation does, we will be what every other nation is. Liberals or progressives or whatever they want to call themselves, seem to want to create some kind of imaginary utopia where no one fails, and every one is taken care of. If I'm going to be taken care of, why should I work so hard? Now. before you even think I don't know what I'm talking about, let me give you some backround,. I grew up at 158 st and Elton Avnenue in the Bronx, N.Y which was called the ghetto when I was young. Then at Gun Hill Rd in the Bronx. So unless you have grown up in a ghetto, and then in a neighborhood with drug possies on every corner, went to a gang filled high school nick named "The drug store", spent time in government run clinics, actually experienced government programs, spent time in the military after quitting school, gone a decade without health insurance, been evicted because you couldn't pay the rent, and had to fight foreclosure on your house, and numerous other life experiences that most liberals or progressives only talk about, DON'T LECTURE ME!

I will leave you with two quotes to think about that I see as basic truths.

George Washington: "The Constitution provides you the "RIGHT" to "PURSUE" happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

Alexis de Toqueville, French political philosopher and historian: " America is so enamored with equality, that they would prefer to live under the equality of servitude and slavery, than the inequality of freedom"

I really hope that Toqueville was wrong, but I don't think he was.

Prior to this I haven't ever signed out under my real name. From now on I will. I want people to know who I am!

This is Bob "Paul Revere" Skillman reminding you, "THE RED COATS ARE COMING"